Sydney + Manly
I started my day with a morning meditation followed by mantra chanting. Then found myself sitting on the balcony with a cup of tea in my left and a pen in my right with my journal in front of me. I did some reflecting until my belly started rumbling for some grub. My Aunt and I walked to Surry Hills and sat down for some brekkie at Single O. This place is a MUST! Not only do they have incredible coffee (a Flat White is most common here in Aus), but the food was out of this world delicious. I ordered the Sweet Vegan, which was a gluten free passionfruit baked hotcake with salted macadamia butter and strawberry gum poached apple (yes my mouth is watering as I type this). Meanwhile my Aunt enjoyed the Mothership Bowl, which contained poached eggs, avo, mushroom, cauliflower, and heaps of other scrumptious ingredients.
The sun is shining and it is quite a bit warmer today in comparison to yesterday. So I decided to take a similar walk towards the Opera House, but this time passing by Mrs. Macquarie's Chair. On my way, I saw the Art Gallery of New South Wales and decided to take a peak inside. From Bret Wiley to Richard Larter, the gallery was packed with beautiful artwork, some Aboriginal artwork. After, I noticed St. Mary's Cathedral and today, I decided to go inside.
I silently walked through this gorgeous Cathedral. I'm not sure if it was the environment or the fact that my mind is a bit more open being that I'm traveling, but something inside me told me to kneel down and pray. So I did just that. And as I knelt praying for all those that are ill, all those have been taken by their illness, and all those who will eventually become ill, tears began streaming out of my eyes and down my cheeks. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. When I stood up, the church bells started dinging and I was filled with goosebumps from head to toe.
Today I feel so many emotions and decided to just ride the wave of it all, allowing everything to flow as organically as possible. I walked oceanside on a beautiful path filled with trees that had some of this biggest roots I've ever seen, as well as some massively cool rocks. And these rocks are so sit-able, like I couldn't help myself but to run up and pop a squat on one. As I did so, I found myself literally laughing out loud. I'm allowing myself to act spontaneously without giving too much thought to these urges. It was a delightful pause in my afternoon, just laying on a rock beneath the sun. This city contains a lot of rocks that are just waiting for people to sit and relax.
At one point, after seeing all the couples holding hands and linking arms, I felt the need to have someone by my side, to have a hand to hold. Instead of feeling lonely, my response was to hold my own hand, interlace my fingers together, and find comfort knowing that I am enough for myself. I have all the love I need within me. I am my true best friend. This may seem odd to some (honestly, it feels a bit personal to even be sharing) but it put a smile on my face and a pep in my step. This is just another one of the urges I didn't resist.
Skipping along the trail, I finally made it to Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, which is basically another "sit-able rock" that dates back to 1810. If that wasn't cool enough, sitting in this "chair" offered one of the best views of the Sydney Opera House with the Harbour Bridge as a backdrop. Continuing along the trail, I eventually made my way to the Circular Quay (pronounced key), the main ferry terminal in Sydney. I arrived 20 minutes early so I enjoyed a scoop of the creamiest chocolate sorbet at the nearby gelato shop.
The ferry to Manly takes about 20 minutes and runs every 30 minutes. I hopped on at 3:00 PM, saw the Opera House from the sea, and chatted a Manly local named Pam who was a sweet 60some year old lady. She recommended I walk the beach, so I did just that. The sand was a bit chilly on my toes, and the water was beyond cold. But it felt good running towards the sea, and refreshing even though the bottom of my jeans got a bit soaked. I walked and watched the 300some odd surfers all in the water for their evening surf sesh. I found a cozy spot in the sun and sat my bum in the sand, pulled out some postcards, and began writing.
Realizing I wasn't actually sure how late the ferry ran, I laced up my shoes and headed back towards the ferry terminal. On my way, I stumbled upon a shop called Surf Dive & Ski. I saw a cute jumper that caught my attention and decided to try it on. The chick that was working ended up being a radical individual from Egypt named India (trippy I know), which is ultimately why I decided to purchase the jumper. Not only that, but the dude that was working offered me a tote for $2. I kindly declined, and then India said "you've got to get one, they're the best! scissors paper rock to decide." I chuckled, gave it a go, and needless to say I ended up with a tote after losing rock to paper.
I arrived to the ferry station with a big ol' smile on my face, pleased with my afternoon. The ferry has a bar and I noticed a ginger cider beer on the menu, brewed locally in Manly, so I figured why not. Jack the British bartender and I ended up chatting the whole way back, conversing about road trips within Aus and some must-see/do's. The sun had set, the wind had picked up some speed, and yet I opted out of taking the train home and instead walked (skipped) the 30 minutes back because I had so much joy-based energy. Also, I passed by Castlereagh Street which is basically like the 5th avenue of New South Wales.
My Aunt made dinner plans tonight with some of her "young crowd" friends, Ashley, Lucas, Mary-Cathrine, and Lindsey. We went to The Malaya, which is a Malaysian restaurant located near the Darling Harbour. This was my first time ever eating Malaysian food and I can honestly say this is one of my absolute favorite meals I have ever eaten to date! My Aunt ordered the set menu's for us, mine being the vegan option of course. This was a 7 course meal along with a dessert and we all sipped through roughly 8 bottles of wine throughout the dinner. My meal included dishes like samosas, san choy bow, sayor otak, Szechuan eggplant, curry, and so several others. Everything was tasteful!
After dinner, we went a bar down the street called Bungalow 8. It was a hip spot, both indoor and outdoor without any doors separating them from one another, and a DJ who had a live drummer. We danced our tails off while sipping some tequila. Interesting fact about the Aussie bars, depending on where you're at in the city, a lot of bars do not serve shots after 1:00 AM. So my tequila went from "neat" to "with lemonade" by the end of the night. The lights turned on at about 3:00 AM (cue Closing Time by Semisonic) and I made my way back home and was cuddled up in bed before 4:00 AM.
